Seeking Light

winter light shining through my kitchen window

Most of the leaves have now fallen from the trees and oh-my-goodness, the colour this year was a glorious sight.  Sunny, dry days = piles of golden leaves. (as opposed to those years when they just get soggy and wilt!)   For much of the year, I look out my kitchen window at a wall of green leaves…a dense forest of firs, maples and poplars.  I think there’s even a walnut tree back there somewhere. 

I love the shaded and secluded feeling of my patio during the summer but when winter comes, I’m smitten with the filtered light that shines through my kitchen window.  The sun is low in December and doesn’t climb high enough to make it over the tops of the trees, but it shines directly into my kitchen in a way that never happens at any other time of year. 

 

(A small detail of the photograph above.  Playing in Photoshop, I added a layer of yellow, blended it in layers mode and blurred a duplicate layer.  I’m fascinated with patterns that have a web/interconnectedness or map-like feeling.)

The light…even filtered light like this…is such a gift for us in the northern latitudes at this time of year.  I’ve lived in the Canadian arctic where the sun barely shows it’s face in the winter and I’ve lived in northern BC where we were thankful for three or four hours of sunlight a day, which is likely why I’ve become such a sun seeker at this stage of my life!

This December I’ll be actively seeking the light and recording what I see and how I see it, both indoors and out…where it shines, where it sparkles, where it glows, and where it casts shadows…and I’ll be posting my findings here.

 

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.”

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Stay in wonderment my friends,

Comments

[tanna]

I love the light, too, Kate! And, the Kubler-Ross quote has always been one of my favs. blessings ~ tanna

[kamana]

my favourite time for beautiful light is in the early morning in my kitchen or outside.

[olivia]

What a great idea, kate. I will look forward to your eye on light...I long for the sun also and will be, I'm sure, inspired by what you write to notice more here. Blessings and love, xoO

[Patti]

In Australia we are blessed with a lot of sun and clarity of light, which is wondeful. Your soft and subdued light is lovely to me too. Another dimension to appreciate!

[Serena]

I love the first morning light! Beautiful images and clever photo manipulation too, Kate.